The live album included is incredible. I've never seen her live, and I'll take for granted that this album is no replacement, but it's great for a live recording. It's full of revelatory moments as Tori radically rearranges many of her songs and boosts the energy level. For some reason, I've never liked a live album on my first listen, but this is my one exception. The haunting "Bells For Her" is entirely different on a piano that isn't all wacky. I don't know where "Cooling" comes from, but it's an incredible showcase of Tori at her best: an emotionally intense piano ballad with utterly beautiful vocals. The violent "The Waitress" is extended by six or seven minutes, and it totally rocks. Overall, the setlist (you can see it above) is basically perfect, and Tori's onstage charisma is remarkable.

With a 4 stars for the studio work, and 5 stars for the awesome live album, things average out to a 4.5. But since Tori rules the universe, I'll round up to a 5-star (although I usually round down).


Tori Amos is a serious talent ! Incredible songwriter.   November 12, 2000
Darren Burton (Ogden, Utah United States)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

This double CD features a studio disc with a live album. The studio disc has all new music - it is an excellent album, and the live album really reflects what a Tori Amos concert is like. I have seen Tori Amos in concert and it is a great experience. Tori has an beautiful voice - she can do anything with her voice, sing like an angel, howl like an animal caught in a steel trap, or have the raw edge of the hardest heavy metal band. Combine this with fragmented images of feelings, things, and places in the lyrics that wouldn't normally seem to go together, like Jim Morrison did on The Doors albums; and you get a hypnotic, hallucinatory effect that pulls you in.

Tori Amos writes all her music and lyrics - and her music is absolutely amazing and unlike anything else out there. Her piano playing is beautiful - check out the song "Lust" on the first CD -and can easily hold it's own with any classical music pianist.

I love the songs "Bliss", "Lust", "Riot Poof", and "Spring Haze" on the studio album. The live album is full of the most popular songs off of Tori's first three albums.


Best way yet to experience Tori   September 7, 2000
Serge (North Brunswick, NJ USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This release is so well done, it makes you wonder why others don't dare to combine a full studio disc with a live album. Probably because replicating the quality of this album would be hard to do. Tori continues to expand her music on the first CD (the studio one), with such stunningly beautiful songs as Juarez, its slow soundscape and Tori's hypnotic vocals almost masking the terror of the subject matter. Classic Tori stylings are of course still there, on songs like 1000 oceans, while dipping into a bit of electronica produced the haunting Bliss and the louder faster Suede. What started off as just a couple of B sides to be added to the live album developed into a full album fully deserving of the praise given here.

The second CD finally captures the aural side of the live Tori experience, mixing fan favorites like Precious Things, Cornflake Girl with B-side favorites like Sugar, fun songs like Mr. Zebra, and even the unexpected epic that Waitress was turned into. The setlist does a good job of capturing the various moods of the concert, as well as showcasing the metamorphisis that Tori's songs go through on stage. If you are even a casual fan of Tori, listening to this disc will confince you to go to a show.

Tori has simply spoiled her fans with this release, so it is no wonder her fanatical following grow ever stronger - she deserves it. This is unquestionably one of the top releases of the year, even if it was, outside of Tori photo shoots in the music magazines, largely ignored by the industry.


Venus Orbiting does not blow you away, but it is still good   December 22, 1999
Jennifer(eagle_feather9@hotmail.com) (Singapore)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

I bought this CD set two months ago and finally got 'round to writing this. First of all, I have to say that Disc 2 deserves 5 stars and Disc 1 deserves 3. But it is only my personal opinion because usually I'd rather go for something acoustic. My faves on Disc 1 are Lust, Josephine, Juarez, Concertina and Glory of the 80s.

In a nutshell, Disc 1 takes some getting used to. I finally did, after repeated listenings. (I didn't like Glory of the 80s at first because it sounded kinda bland, but yesterday something happened. I was listening to the song and smiled when I realised the humour she was getting at)

Now, Disc 2. It is excellent. I've never heard any contemporary artiste perform so well. This one is a regular in my CD player and I can't go by each day without listening to it. There's something very hypnotic about her presence--almost otherworldly. Where I come from--Asia--Tori Amos is a rather obscure figure, whereas less talented people(Alanis Morissette, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey) get all the attention. I hope this concert recording will change that. She has never performed here, and I wonder if she will ever do that. For now, I just have to listen to bootlegs and this CD. Thanks Tori,for your offering!


Goddess rules Venus   December 3, 1999
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Each time I buy a new Tori album, I approach it cautiously, listening for weeks before I render any overall judgement. Her music is so wonderfully complex that I like to take small bites at a time. Although I miss the pre-Choirgirl Hotel, girl and her piano days, Tori is still the most amazing artist out there today. The goddess has done it again with Venus. The new tracks have a more industrial bent, crammed with lyrics obsessed with physics and brooding arrangements. Then she throws you a splendid curve ball in the form of 1,000 oceans, a lovely ballad worthy of comparisons to Hey, Jupiter and Winter, and her other "quiet time" hits. My personal fave on this disc though is Suede. It is so sexy!

The live disc almosts captures the religious experience of seeing Tori live. Precious Things and Waitress are in rare form. Cooling is a great bonus.